Upper Valley Church of Christ

Greetings from the Green Mountains!

Time moves on. Right after Dick passed away, we immediately started getting ready for our Friends Day on August 23rd.

We rented a 20 x 30 tent, and on a beautiful Friday, several of us guys got together and put it up. We prayed for good weather for Friends Day. Wouldn’t you know it, it did rain, but we still had great attendance, with nine guests added to our own numbers.

Two of my ladies from the Assisted Living attended, and my new (2013) Honda Pilot was perfect for transport. I used it again after worship to take a few people from the church building over to the tent. Everything went on without a hitch in spite of the rain.

The food and fellowship were excellent. Two of our guys kept the grill cranking out the hot dogs, hamburgers, and cheeseburgers, and with fresh corn on the cob and yummy desserts, no one was complaining!

Our last Friends Day two years ago produced two new Christians, as Dick Small attended that day for the first time, and it was also Steve Schemel’s first time. We were blessed as God answered our prayers to use the event to bring new souls into the Lord’s church.

Dick has gone home now, but Steve is still faithfully attending and is eager to attend the Gander Brook Men’s retreat for the second time coming up Sept. 24-26.

As for this year’s Friends Day, Fred and Vivian Stebbins attended for the first time. Paul and Dottie invited them. Paul and Fred are in the American Legion together. After worship, Fred and I were waiting on burgers, and he told me they plan to start attending.

By Thursday, right after Friends Day, I went and had a great visit with them at their home in the Tall Timbers trailer park. It was delightful getting to know them. A Bible study is set to begin on October 1st at 1:00. The same time that Dick and I used to meet each week. In the meantime, as promised, they were at worship on Sunday. They stayed and fellowshipped for a long time after the potluck dinner that followed. I am headed over there on Tuesday to play guitar with Fred.

We immediately hit it off on my first visit. He got out his guitars, and we kind of bonded. Our Tuesday get-together is something we are both looking forward to.

Be praying for the work here. I believe the Lord is blessing it, and I am excited about the upcoming class.

Thank you all for your love and interest in the work here in the Upper Valley.

Your fellow servants in Christ,

Randy and Sharon Gardner